It's definitely been a while since I posted....uuumm.. let's see I've been in a bit of a personal slump lately. I get motivated for a day it feels like and then lose focus for a week! I've had a lot of stuff going on lately though that's been needing attention. I got my vaccine so that took me down for a couple days. First shot made me super sore in the arm and a little queasy for a day. Second shot gave me a fever and bad insomnia...which I already have so not sure I can blame that on the shot... Other than that I started watching The Saint's Magic is Omnipotent and I love it! It's a good combination of serious and comedy. The characters are just so easy to like or dislike (ok I know I'm suppose to understand one character is just acting the "jerk", but I still don't like him!). Gearing up for Deviant arts summer secret Santa. I had some mix ups when getting assigned to a person, but I think we got it all sorted out! I've been wanting to redraw some of my old characters, but then new characters start trying to crowd for room in my head. Loki so far has been the only old character I've managed to do at this point. I started on the other, but I didn't really feel satisfied with it so I think I'm going to try again. Created Rin and I'm so happy I went with the water lily motif for her character/outfit! Color wise I'm aesthetically pleased. Also started reading the manga for The Case Study of Vanitas. I love the artwork and the story so far! I'm on volume 4 and the story is definitely one that sucks you in. I have to fight the impulse on the thrilling parts to not skip ahead a bit to see how things turn out. Does anyone else do that? randomly flip ahead a bit to make sure things are "ok" then go back and read the bit you skipped. I honestly have no idea why I do this, but it's a bad habit. I think it might be because I predict it's going to go one way and I want to know if I'm right or not. I am one of those people when watching something with someone whose already seen it asks "Oh I bet so and so does this and ends up being this huh?" It makes my husband crazy when watching movies or shows with me and I guess the plot. I've also decided after reading this last bit that I am rambling which is not surprising as it is quickly approaching midnight!! So until next time enjoy good food, good manga/anime, and making good art! 
So lately I've been doing more of the DTIYS challenges on artfol. I mentioned on my last piece that I feel like I'm really learning something new from each piece that I enter. This one really had me experimenting with colors for shading and the one before was really fascinating due to the odd lighting from the star she was holding. I highly recommend trying some if you never have. I think it puts me outside my comfort zone in a good way!
I wanted to show another process picture of making this piece! So you'll see the rough sketch, line art, base colors, and then the finished product with shading and an added background. I wanted to put the original piece in the center so you had an idea of where my concept came from! Well as always thanks for reading the rant!
Lately I've been trying to get back into the drawing groove. I've been in that not sure how much I'm feeling it phase? I've been debating putting together a commission sheet so we'll see if I follow through on that or not... Getting back into doing DTIYS challenges which are always really fun. I love seeing how other people take the drawing and change it into their own thing! It's amazing how different one person's idea can be from another. Nothing like art creating more art!
Switching topics onto manga! Humble bundle had a fantastic deal on manga in e-book format. I got something like 59 volumes for $25. If I spent $30 I could have got the first 24 volumes of The Seven Deadly Sins, but I already have the first 22 from a previous bundle. This bundle was a must get though as it has That Time I Got Reincarnated As A Slime! First ten volumes! I absolutely loved the anime and I have to say I'm actually pretty impressed with how close the anime was with the manga. The best thing about the manga is the Veldora insights at the end. I feel like it's giving me a lot of information I didn't get previously from just watching the anime. I haven't got started yet on the other books that came with. There's Farewell My Dear Cramer, Tokyo Revengers, and several others I'm looking forward to diving into!
As for life.... I think I mentioned I got a hot pot. Life changing! It's so good! My only regret is that I got it now and not in the middle of winter. I do not plan on letting this limit my use! My kiddo who is now two is showing me why it's called the terrible two's. He is a wild child! In everything and all over the place all at the same time. We recently had to purchase doorknob covers so he can no longer get into rooms (or outside) the he isn't suppose to be in. He's also a parrot, language is something we're constantly reminding friends to watch. The other day he was just saying "Oh my god!" on repeat. It's impressive how fast kids learn things! He's also developed an obsession with garbage trucks. Real life ones, youtube videos, toys...he loves garbage trucks. Well that's my brief update this time, stay safe out there!
Well as of today my kiddo is officially two years old. I honestly find myself already questioning where the time went. We took our first big car trip yesterday to the zoo which is a 3.5 hour drive over the mountains. I honestly was feeling a bit of anxiety about doing this trip. I wasn't sure how he was going to handle being in the car for that long. Not only that, but we came back the same day. Surprisingly the only melt down he had came toward the end of the day at the restaurant where all he wanted was to go back home. Understandable for a 2 year old who got up unusually early and didn't really get a nap.
As for the zoo.... well as you all are well aware we're still kind of in pandemic mode so a majority of the exhibits at the zoo are still closed due to covid. We also didn't really plan for the weather. We had sprinkles mixed with torrential down pours! Given all that we still have a pretty good time looking at all the different animals. The sea lions in particular really seemed to want to put on a show. The lions were actually awake and the cheetahs were on a parade path right by the glass. Most of the animals seemed in a mood to show off. Kiddo was very impressed by the elephants which were and I quote "Awesome!".
After the zoo we got to hit up an Asian shopping mall. Unfortunately where we live we don't have access to one. Got to find all kinds of treats and even a hot pot! I'm really looking forward to breaking that in! Look forward to tales of hot pot adventures! Why do Asian markets have such tasty baked goods!? I ended up spending a goodly amount! Found my favorite spicy ramen too! The place I get it from recently stopped carrying it.
So after being soaked to the bone at the zoo and shopping we stopped for dinner with some family in the area and that's when the small melt down happened. Spent a majority of dinner hanging out in the car watching videos on my phone with the little guy. Then we started the long drive home, I was worried I might fall asleep....well I was worried for absolutely NO reason. While we were enjoying our day the weather decided to work it's way to the mountains... Getting home through a white out was exhilirating to say the least. My husband was pretty much white knuckled the whole time as we tried to discern the road. Long story short though we lived to talk about it! Next time I think we'll aim for a trip in the summer!
Lately I hit a bit of an art block so I haven't been very active on here lately and I got sucked into Final Fantasy XIV again. Then as of yesterday my Oculus Quest 2 arrived! I'm not sure if I mentioned before, but I'm a bit of a VR fanatic. I really think VR and such things are the way of the future entertainment wise. My romance with VR started with the Vive and then graduated to the Index until I had my kiddo which made playing VR a bit impossible due to lack of time, space, ability to quickly set up and take down etc. I was chatting with a friend who is also a VR enthusiast to the point where he has replaced his computer monitors simply with a VR headset. He mentioned how the Quest 2 is really amazing so I started looking into it. Let me say that first off people who say VR is not possible for them due to price might want to rethink that. The Quest 2 for the base model is $300 about the same as a Nintendo switch. Also you don't need a computer for it because the Quest 2 doesn't require a computer or base stations for hand tracking. No wires! It's amazing! There are a few things you have to do to get it to wirelessly talk to your computer so you can play steam games, but it's worth the hassle! Also takes zero time to set up. The index is still a bit more comfortable to wear, but for price and ease of use it far surpasses my expectations! I can't wait to dive back into my games! Today while my kiddo napped I sat next to him and made virtual pottery...yes I know doesn't sound exciting, but it was really fun XD. I'm looking forward to playing Skyrim on it this weekend when I have a bit more time. The controllers are going to take some getting used to. I'm still a huge fan of the steam knuckle controllers for the index. The way they hug your hands and enable you to just let go if needed is one of my favorite things about them. I am also looking forward to spending time in tilt brush and getting creative!
